Martin the Warrior ANNOTATION
Captured and enslaved by the corsair stoat Badrang, young mouse warrior Martin vows to end the evil beast's plundering and killing.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A shadow has fallen on the shore of the Eastern sea, a shadow called Marshank. In this cold stone fortress a stoat named Badrang holds dozens of innocent creatures as slaves, part of his scheme to build an empire where he will rule as unquestioned tyrant.
Among those slaves is a mouse named Martin who has a warrior's heart, and a burning desire for freedom—freedom not ony for himself, but for all of Badrang's victims. There is no risk he will not take, no battle he will not fight, to end the stoat's evil reign, and in the process regain the sword of his father, Luke the Warrior—the sword that Badrang stole from him when he was but a lad.
Once again master storyteller Brian Jazques has crafted an epic advewnture and filled it to the bursting point with unforgettable characters, including villians so hilariously evil you'll barely be able to keep from hissing them, and loveable woodland creatures so brave you'll want to stand and cheer as they fight for their freedom.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In a starred review of this 1994 installment in the Redwall series, PW commented that ``Jacques's classically inspired plot-weaving achieves virtuosity.'' All ages. (Apr.)
Children's Literature - Susie Wilde
As usual, Brian Jacques fans will welcome his sixth book, Martin the Warrior. Jacques has a large and loyal following of kids eight to eighty. The reasons for these legions of fans are once again apparent. The three hundred-odd pages hold swashbuckling adventures of derring-do, laugh out loud humor, and a multitude of cliff hanging moments that make the book impossible for even the most reluctant reader to put down. Martin appeared in Jacques' first book, Redwall, and has set standards for heroism in every book that followed. Martin's ghost guides the "good" through the other five books, but Martin's own history was mysterious until now. Jacques tells all-how Martin rises from enslavement to unite forests of oppressed creatures to do battle with the tyrannical stoat, Badrang, and to bring down Marshank, his fortress of evil. The truth behind the shadowy details of Martin's one true love and the meaning behind the power of Martin's sword, a weapon that empowers all the heroes and heroines that follow Martin's path, are revealed. Jacques' writing provides some of the most dramatic family read aloud material to be found in children's books, and once again there's the satisfying triumph of good over evil at the book's end.
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9-Jacques adds another tale to his Redwall fantasy series. This is the story of Martin as a brash young mouse and so precedes both Mossflower (1988) and Redwall (1987, both Philomel). Martin is a prisoner slave in the fortress of the tyrant, Badrang. Escaping with a group of other prisoners, the animals are separated, and spend the rest of the book trying to find one another, mingling with a large cast of colorful characters, good and bad, along the way. Meanwhile, back at the fortress, the evil Badrang is fighting for his life against the equally evil Captain Clogg, who has arrived by sea to try to wrest control. In the end, Martin and his compatriots arrive in time to assure that good triumphs, but only after an almost unbelievable series of swashbuckling episodes and close calls. The story is a complex one with three strains going on simultaneously, and only sophisticated readers will be able to follow it. Jacques writes to a formula of constant action and high adventure as good fights evil. He is able to carry it off because his plots are exciting with lots of tension, and because he is able to establish distinctive and interesting personalities throughout each book. This story carries readers along at a breathless pace and stands well with the others in the series. However, it offers nothing new and is not essential to the enjoyment of the previous books.-Jane Gardner Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9-In this sixth book of the Redwall series, Brian Jacques relates the tale of how the mouse warrior of Redwall gained his title and his fame. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
BookList - Sally Estes
Jacques continues his popular Redwall series in a sixth entry--set prior to "Mossflower" (1988), which details how Martin brought peace to Mossflower Woods. This tale harks back to the making of Martin the Warrior, whose spirit has encouraged and whose sword has been wielded by later warriors battling threats to the woodlands. "He was only a young mouse, but of strong build, with a glint in his eye that proclaimed him a born fighter." And he has been enslaved by the heartless stoat Badrang the Tyrant, chieftain of a horde of weasels, ferrets, foxes, and rats, who is ruthlessly using slave labor to build a fortress on the Eastern Coast. Once again, various bands of protectors have separate adventures and eventually converge at the fort for the final bloody battle. As usual, Jacques does not gloss over violence and gore, his good guys are really good and the bad ones evil to the core, and there's a great deal of humor and camaraderie and good eating. Particularly poignant in this episode is the death in the culminating battle of the mousemaid Rose, whose namesake rose later blooms and flourishes in her memory on the Redwall Abbey grounds. Another winning tale for the saga's many fans.Read all 6 "From The Critics" >
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